Wire mesh of the type described can be used for fencing uncultivated or cultivated regions which may be traversed by animals or other creatures of different sizes, the wire mesh being erected in an upright manner so that the longitudinal wires extend more or less horizontally while the transverse wires extend vertically.
The parallel arrays of wires define a mesh which has a certain height and a certain width, the height being measured in the vertical direction, e.g. between successive longitudinal wires while the width is measured horizontally, e.g. as the distance between successive transverse wires.
It is known in fencing of this type to progressively or in a stepwise manner increase the spacing of the longitudinal wires from one another upwardly from the bottom of the fence to the top thereof, the transverse wire spacing being maintained substantially constant.
This configuration of the knotted-wire mesh fence has numerous advantages. For example, it may prevent the passage of smaller animals or other creatures which tend to move along the ground and seldom are capable of penetrating through even relatively large openings at upper locations of a fence. In addition, since the larger animals do not penetrate the fence, even through the larger openings afforded by the greater spacing of the longitudinal wires at the upper portion of the fence, a relatively high fence can be made with a smaller number of longitudinal wires than is the case with conventional fencing having a constant mesh height and width and thus equal spacing of both the longitudinal and the transverse wires.
The crossover points between the wires may be interconnected by various tying means although in common practice, the junction is formed by twisting one of the wires around the other, usually, the transverse wires around the longitudinal wires, the longitudinal wires being provided with slight undulations in the region of the crossover point to prevent shifting of the knot along the longitudinal wires.
Depending upon the use to which the mesh is to be put and its construction, commercial knotted mesh fencing can have a spacing of the longitudinal wires which ranges between 3 and 20 cm while the spacing between the transverse wires is 15 to 30 cm.
With such dimensions, the number of longitudinal wires determines the width of the mesh which is usually between 0.65 and 2.00 meters. The mesh can be coiled in lengths of 50 to 100 meters and the twist-type junctions at the crossover points are customarily made so that a hinge-like connection is provided to permit swiveling of one wire in the twisted portion of the other.
The wire diameter for both the longitudinal and transverse wires as well as for the wires provided at the edge of the mesh can be the same or different and usually is between 1.5 and 4 mm. The wires can be coated with synthetic resin material.
When the aforedescribed knotted-mesh fencing is used to enclose an area from which smaller animals or creatures are to be excluded, or to be prevented from escaping, the conventional fencing has upper mesh widths which are excessively small considering the fact that neither access to smaller creatures is afforded nor can the larger creatures pass through the fencing.
In other words, conventional fencing of the type described is not actually made in the most effective and efficient manner to fence in or out creatures of various heights for a given amount of material.